Carol Burnett is remembering longtime costume designer Robert Gordon "Bob" Mackie.
The legendary comedic actress, in a statement to USA TODAY on Monday, Sept. 14, called the fashion icon a "genius."
"Sadness doesn't come close to how I feel. I loved him very much," she wrote. "As for his genius, there are fashion designers who don't do costumes and there are costume designers who don't do fashion. Bob did it all. There was no one like him."
Burnett, 93, and Mackie, who died Sept. 14 at age 87, were longtime collaborators, starting in 1967 with his work on "The Carol Burnett Show."
In 2016, the duo reflected on their decades-long partnership and friendship in an interview with USA TODAY. One of the most memorable Mackie designs was Burnett's green-velvet
curtain dress for her "Gone With the Wind" parody, "Went With the Wind," which is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
Burnett explained that while the sketch was brilliantly written, it called for "Starlett" to "come down the stairs with the curtains just hanging" on her. Mackie, thinking the visual element could be funnier, "came up with the idea of making the dress with the curtain rod. I fell on the floor."
"That one's going to be carved on my gravestone," Mackie said. "It wasn't until the last minute that I decided to do it like that. I said, 'Well, that'll get some kind of a laugh.' It got an enormous laugh."
Mackie was also the brains behind other visual gags, including the "saggy-boobed" parody of Nora Desmond; the tight-legged skirt for Mr. Tudball (Tim Conway)'s secretary, Mrs. Wanda Wiggins; and the dowdy look behind Eunice Harper Higgins.
Mackie also designed Burnett's costumes for a 2005 TV production of "Once Upon A Mattress" in which the star played Queen Aggravain. Mackie made the character "sort of a Medieval Joan Collins on 'Dynasty,'" he told USA TODAY.
Mackie designed ensembles for dozens of stars on stage, Broadway and red carpets, including Cher, Dolly Parton, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli and more.
Throughout his career, Mackie was nominated for 32 Emmys and won 9, including for his work with Burnett and Ross. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2002. The designer was also nominated for three Academy Awards and won one Tony Award, for his work on "The Cher Show."
"He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do," the designer's team wrote in an Instagram statement announcing his death. "His genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world."
Contributing: Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carol Burnett remembers designer Bob Mackie – 'I loved him very much'
